As divisions grow between the government and armed forces while the Gaza war continues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded angrily to remarks made by the country’s military suggesting that eliminating Hamas is an impossible objective.

Mr. Netanyahu stated that the military was “obligated” to take his orders, which included “destruction of Hamas’ military and governance capabilities,” in a statement released by his office.

His remarks came after a military spokesman, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, was interviewed on Israeli Channel 13 and said that saying the IDF could destroy Hamas was like “throwing sand in people’s eyes.”

“Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a political party,” he said. “It is rooted in the hearts of people – whoever thinks we can eliminate Hamas is mistaken. To say that we are going to make Hamas disappear is to throw sand in people’s eyes.”

He went on to say that “developing something else to replace it” is the only way to put an end to Hamas’ influence in the Gaza Strip.

“Something that will make the population realise that someone else is distributing the food, someone else is taking care of public services … to really weaken Hamas, this is the way,” Mr Hagari added.

On Thursday, the Israeli army issued a statement responding to Mr Netanyahu’s criticism, stating that “the army is committed to achieving the war’s goals as defined by the cabinet.”

They clarified that any other reading would be “taking the quote out of context” and that Hagari had been discussing “the elimination of Hamas as an idea and ideology.”

However, the recent altercation between the government and the military reveals escalating national unease about how Israel’s soldiers are waging war in Gaza.